1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of producing a ceramic laminate body by laminating a plurality of ceramic layers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A ceramic laminate body is used, in some cases, as a high-performance component of a piezoelectric actuator, for example. The piezoelectric actuator uses a ceramic laminate body formed by alternately laminating ceramic layers and internal electrode layers. To acquire high displacement at a low voltage, it has been a recent trend to decrease the thickness of the ceramic layers of the piezoelectric actuator and to increase the number of laminations. To facilitate the assembly of the piezoelectric actuator into an apparatus, its overall size has been reduced.
However, the decrease of the thickness of the ceramic layers and the increase of the number of laminations invite de-lamination (inter-layer peel) and the occurrence of cracks in the resulting ceramic laminate body. These de-laminations and cracks result in an operating defect in the ceramic laminate body.
Such problems similarly occur not only in the piezoelectric actuator but also in other ceramic laminate bodies.